The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-02-12
GGenesis xviii. $685.
The INVISIBLE COP.

st, John declares, "No man hath seen COP
at any time" but that He is revealed in His
Son. who came "to show us the Father"
Gle that hath seen me-" said JESUS, "hath
seen the Father st. Paul declares that
JESUS was "the image of the invisible GoD."
He calls COP the eternal King, incorruptible,
invisible, "whom no man hath seen nor can
see - Moses s'by faith forsook Egypt, not
fearing The wrath of the king, for he endured,
as seeing Him who is invisible" 1t is re-
corded that JEHOVAH spake unto Moses face
to face, as man speaketh unto his friend;'
but when Moses said, "Show me, L pray
Thee. Thy glory" JEHOVAH answered, Thou
canst not see my face: for man shall not see
me and live." But "the pure in heart shall
see Gop." "JEHovAH appeared unto Abra-
ham nv the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at his
tent door in the heat of tte day." He had
anneared unto him in Sachem where he had
erected his first altar of worship, and said,
"Unto thy seed will give this land" Again
be anneared in a vision and confirmed the
nromise with a covenant, declaring that "to
bis seed He had given this land from the
Nile to the Euphrates.' What was seen in
the vision was a symbol of the Divine pres
ence. and not GoD Himself, who is invisible.
4 fame of fire represented GoD in the cere-
mony of the covenant enacted IN the Vision.
COP appeared to Israel in the pillar OF fire
and smoke, which was the recognized symbol
of His presence with the Tabernacle and af-
Harvard in the Temple. To the Hebrew
mind the world was full of symbols of the
Divine presence. He appeared In the
nhenomena of nature, in the providences OF
Iife-the fortunes of men and nations, and In
tbe person and ministry of His faithful ser
wants. Anciently GoD 'spake" to men In all
these ways, and "said' whatever was inter
preted by the pious soul to be the Divine
meaning of these things. He continues thus
to appear and to speak to the souls of men
who are qualified by faith and purity of
heart to perceive Him and hear His voice.
Knowing more of the natural cause of strik-
inc phenomena and extraordinary events, we
do not employ the same language in descr1b-
ing their influence upon the fortunes OF man
kind or their meaning in the providence OF
life or course of human history, as did the
writers of the Hebrew Scriptures, though we
NAV have profounder and truer interpreta-
tion of their Divine meaning than they had.
But the fact that devout men do not recog-
nize the appearance and voice of Cop In all
these things,-in the profound impressions
which they make upon the mind, and the
changes they produce in life and history, Is
abundantIy shown in all the best modern lit
erature. The fact is quite as apparent now
as formerly, though the rhetoric may be
greatly changed. The profound and moving
impression which great and striking event
makes upon the devout soul is the voice OF
Cop. "God is not in the prodigy, but In the
soul,n 1t was not the marvellous appear
ance of the earthquake or the fire, but the
impression which these made upon the soul
of the prophet, that was the still small voice
of COP. COP now appears in the movements
of human history and in the providences of
life that affect human happiness and we'll
being as certainly as in the days of Abraham
and Moses. Indeed, the modern manner of
the recognition of the Divine in nature and
history. is suggested in the ancient rhetoric
of Moses. When Moses asked to see COPS
glory. He answered, ~ will make all my
goodness pass before thee; while my glory
passeth by I will cover thee with my hand
until have passed by; and will take away
mine hand and thou shalt see my back, (Ex-
odus xxxiii. 20-23). The presence lgloryJ
and purpose of GoD appear In the move
ments of nature and history, when these are
seen to have been good and to have been
means of promoting goodness. When the
10 damn of fa
has passed before us, our eyes are opened to
behold His glory. GoD appears also to the
souls of men, and His voice is heard, in the
profoundest moods of thought and reflection
which produce deep and moving convictions
of highest truth and duty
In the context in which our Lesson appears,
it is stated that JEHOVAH appeared" to
Abraham as he sat in the door of his tent by
the oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day-a
situation favorable for reflection and for i'm
agining visions and even dreaming. He be-
held three men who suddenly appeared before
him, whom he entertained with Characters
tic hospitality, and afterward journeyed with
them toward Sodom, the direction in which
they seemed to be travelling. JEHOVAH re-
vealed to Abraham His purpose to destroy
the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
when it should appear, as it then seemed, that
the measure of their iniquity was full. Abra-
ham is reported to have interceded with JEHo-
YAH in behalf of the few righteous persons
who might be among their inhabitants, with
reference, no doubt, to the family of his rel
alive, Lot, who dwelt in Sodom.
The whole scene has the appearance of
vision, similar to that of our last lesson, IN
which God appears to Abraham and declares
the probable fate of the wicked Cities of the
Plain, in the visit of three men who were
journeying toward Sodom, and with whom
he journeyed after their rest and refreshment
in his hospitable encampment. If not WIS.,
ion, but an actual occurrence, these three
men may have been faithful servants or mes
sengers of JEHOVAH, even priests of the Most
High COP, as was Melchizedek, the king of
Sodom, to whom Abraham had paid tithes.
Melchizekek himself may have been the chief
of the three who declared the word of his
GoD, whom he represented. There is evil
dent ambiguity and confusion in the report
of the conversation. 1t appears to be plain
that JEHOVAH appeared to Abraham, in the
visit of three men, either in a vision or really,
and in the circumstances of the visit His
purpose concerning the people among whom
Lot had chosen to dwell, was revealed.
That this is really vision may be assumed
from its resemblance to the former ones,
- l.. fWtrn Of fkn